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Patrick Cleburne Commands Brigade at the Battle of Perryville

On October 8, 1862, Irish-born Confederate Brigadier General Patrick Cleburne commands a brigade at the Battle of Perryville, (Kentucky) in the American Civil War. His brigade is part of the army of General Braxton Bragg. Encouraged by Jefferson Davis, Bragg invades Kentucky in August. On August 30, at the Battle of Richmond, Cleburne receives a very painful injury when a ball passes through his open mouth and out his left cheek, taking several teeth with it. However, less than a month later, he is back with his command in time for the crucial battle at Perryville.

The largest and last major battle of the Confederate Heartland Offensive (Kentucky Campaign), the Battle of Perryville, pits Bragg’s Confederate army against General Don Carlos Buell‘s Union army. While Bragg wins the battle tactically, Confederate forces retreat from the battlefield and end the campaign, leaving Kentucky under Union control for the rest of the war.

In conjunction with General Edmund Kirby Smith, Bragg invades the Commonwealth of Kentucky in August 1862. While the Confederate forces see early success in the Battles of Richmond and Munfordville, they ultimately are unable to achieve their larger goal of taking control of the state. By late October, Bragg and Smith’s armies retreat into Tennessee.

On October 7, 1862, the 55,000-man Union Army of the Ohio under the command of General Buell converges on the small crossroads town of Perryville, Kentucky, in three columns. Union forces first skirmish with Confederate cavalry on the Springfield Pike before the fighting continues on Peters Hill as the gray-clad infantry arrive. Based on the intelligence Bragg receives from his cavalry, he believes that he faces only a small portion of General Buell’s army, not the main body. Both sides settle in for the coming battle that would decide the fate of Kentucky.

In the early morning hours of October 8, 1862, fighting begins around Peters Hill as a Union division advances up the pike searching for water, halting just before the Confederate line. General Bragg orders his army to attack the supposedly isolated Union force, but it is noon before the assault gets underway. By that point, a new Union Corps, numbering about 13,000, arrives on the field further to the Union left, led by General Alexander M. McCook. The Confederates shift their focus on this isolated corps, believing it to be the force they faced earlier in the morning.

In the afternoon, the Confederate attacks open up. Bragg plans to commit three divisions. Due to the surprise of the Confederates, the plan works. Many of the Union soldiers in McCook’s corps are inexperienced and have been in the service for less than three months. For over five hours, McCook’s corps struggle to survive.

Cleburne’s brigade enters the battle at about 3:40 p.m. Cleburne’s horse, Dixie, is killed by an artillery shell, which also wounds Cleburne in the ankle, but he keeps his troops moving forward. As they advance up the slope, they are subjected to Confederate artillery fire. Cleburne later surmises that the friendly fire is caused by his men wearing blue uniform trousers, which had been captured from Union soldiers at Richmond. On Cleburne’s left, Brigadier General Daniel W. Adams‘s brigade joins the attack against the 15th Kentucky, which had been reinforced by three companies of the 3rd Ohio. The Union troops retreat to the west toward the Russell House, McCook’s headquarters.

Meanwhile, the majority of the veteran Union forces are under orders not to engage because General Buell, only two miles from the main fight, cannot hear the battle raging. The acoustic shadow dissipates in the area’s rolling hills. In the fighting, the Confederates see much success all across the battlefield at places like Open Knob, where they capture seven Union cannons, Loomis’s Heights, and the H. P. Bottoms Farm. They manage to push back the Union corps over a mile from their positions. Eventually, the Union troops are reinforced by two brigades that stabilize their line, bringing the Confederate attack to a halt. Later, a Confederate brigade assaults the Union force on the Springfield Pike but is repulsed and falls back into Perryville. The Union forces pursue, and skirmishing occurs in the streets in the evening before dark.

After five hours of brutal fighting, on October 8, 1862, night falls upon the battlefield at Perryville. During the night, word finally reaches General Bragg of the true nature of what lay before him. Rather than facing a small Union force, he faces Gen. Buell’s entire army, the majority of which do not see combat. Weighing his options, Bragg, short of men and supplies, withdraws during the night and, after pausing at Harrodsburg, continues the Confederate retreat by way of the Cumberland Gap into East Tennessee.

Cleburne performs a final valuable service to the Confederate cause during Bragg’s retreat. He saves thousands of rifles, cartridges, and other supplies by using stragglers to drag the supply-wagon train to safety.

The Confederate offensive is over and the Union controls Kentucky.


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General Patrick Cleburne Commands Division in the Battle of Stones River

Irish-born Confederate States Army General Patrick Cleburne commands a division in the Battle of Stones River, also known as the Second Battle of Murfreesboro, one of the fiercest battles of the Western theater of the American Civil War. The battle takes place in Middle Tennessee from December 31, 1862, to January 2, 1863.

In early December 1862, the transfer of Confederate General Simon Bolivar Buckner creates a vacancy for a division command in General Braxton Bragg‘s Army of Tennessee. There is no man in that Army who can breathe a word against the promotion of Patrick Ronayne Cleburne to that post, nor the promotion to major general that goes with it. Usually, the months of December and January are quiet times, with soldiers in winter camps, but Union Major General William S. Rosecrans intends to drive Bragg’s army from Tennessee, winter or not.

Rosecrans’s Army of the Cumberland marches from Nashville, Tennessee, on December 26, 1862, to challenge Bragg’s Army of Tennessee at Murfreesboro. Bragg awaits his advance along Stones River, just west of Murfreesboro.

On December 31, each army commander plans to attack his opponent’s right flank, but Bragg has a shorter distance to go and thus strikes first. Cleburne’s division is on the Confederate left. A massive assault by the corps of Major General William J. Hardee, followed by that of Leonidas Polk, overruns the wing commanded by Major General Alexander M. McCook and drives the corps from the field. Union General Thomas Crittenden, observing from a distance, says it is the first time the Army of the Cumberland has ever seen such panic.

A stout defense by the division of Brigadier General Philip Sheridan in the right center of the line prevents a total collapse, and the Union assumes a tight defensive position backing up to the Nashville Turnpike. Repeated Confederate attacks are repulsed from this concentrated line, most notably in the cedar “Round Forest” salient against the brigade of Colonel William B. Hazen. Bragg attempts to continue the assault with the division of Major General John C. Breckinridge, but the troops are slow in arriving and their multiple piecemeal attacks fail.

Later, Confederate Corps commander William Hardee expresses his belief that had a fresh division followed up Cleburne’s, Rosecrans entire army would have been routed. Night falls, however, and the two armies bring in the New Year sleeping on their arms. Rosecran’s army is badly whipped, but it stays put on January 1st.

Bragg is cautious and only probes to discover if the Union army is still there. The Union army has fortified their position to the west of the river, in front of Cleburne. Bragg decides to attack them east of the river. Fighting resumes on January 2, 1863, when Bragg orders Breckinridge to assault a lightly defended Union position on a hill to the east of the Stones River. Chasing the retreating Union forces, this attack is successful at first, but they are led into a deadly trap. Faced with overwhelming artillery, the Confederates are repulsed with heavy losses. Bragg chooses to withdraw his army on January 3 to Tullahoma, Tennessee. Though his army has abandoned the field, Cleburne’s performance in his first battle as a major general has been outstanding. His eventual rise to corps command seems certain, but factors away from the battlefield prevent that.

The battle ends in a victory for the Union army following the Confederate army’s withdrawal on January 3, largely due to a series of tactical miscalculations by Confederate General Braxton Bragg, but the victory is costly for the Union army. Nevertheless, it is an important victory for the Union because it provides a much-needed boost in morale after the Union’s recent defeat at the Battle of Fredericksburg and also reinforces President Abraham Lincoln‘s foundation for issuing the Emancipation Proclamation, which ultimately discourages European powers from intervening on the Confederacy’s behalf.


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The Provisional Congress of the Confederate States Convenes

The Provisional Congress of the Confederate States, also known as the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States of America, convenes in Montgomery, Alabama on February 4, 1861. As many as 30,000 Irish-born fight on the Confederate side during the American Civil War including Chaplain John B. Bannon. A number of Irish rise to senior leadership in the Confederate army including Patrick Cleburne and Henry Strong. Strong is killed at the Battle of Antietam while on the opposite Union side on that awful day, 540 members of the Irish Brigade are killed.

The Provisional Congress of the Confederate States is a congress of deputies and delegates called together from the Southern States which become the governing body of the Provisional Government of the Confederate States from February 4, 1861 to February 17, 1862. It sits in Montgomery until May 21, 1861, when it adjourns to meet in Richmond, Virginia, on July 20, 1861. It adds new members as other states secede from the Union and directs the election on November 6, 1861, at which a permanent government is elected.

The First Session of the Provisional Congress is held at Montgomery from February 4, 1861, to March 16, 1861. On February 8, the Convention adopts the Provisional Constitution of the Confederate States, and so becomes the first session of the Provisional Confederate Congress. Members are present from Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Texas. It drafts the provisional constitution and sets up a government. For president and vice president, it selects Jefferson Davis of Mississippi and Alexander H. Stephens of Georgia.

The Second Session of the Provisional Congress is held at Montgomery from April 29, 1861, to May 21, 1861. It includes the members of the First Session with the additions of Virginia and Arkansas. John Tyler, the tenth president of the United States (1841–1845), serves as a delegate from Virginia in the Provisional Confederate States Congress until his death in 1862.

North Carolina and Tennessee join the Third Session of the Provisional Congress which is held at Richmond from July 20, 1861, to August 31, 1861. Membership remains unchanged for the Fourth Session on September 3, 1861.

The Fifth Session of the Provisional Congress is held at Richmond from November 18, 1861, to February 17, 1862. All previous members are present with the additions of Missouri and Kentucky. One non-voting member is present from the Arizona Territory.


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General Patrick Cleburne Wounded at Battle of Richmond

Major General Patrick Cleburne, by Louis GuillaumeIrish-born Confederate Brigadier General Patrick Cleburne commands a division at the Battle of Richmond in Kentucky on August 29-30, 1862, where he is wounded.

The battle is a stunning Confederate victory by Major General Edmund Kirby Smith against Union Major General William “Bull” Nelson‘s forces. It is the first major battle in the Confederate Heartland Offensive. The battle takes place on and around what is now the grounds of the Blue Grass Army Depot, outside Richmond, Kentucky.

In the fall of 1862, two Confederate armies move on separate paths into Kentucky, hoping to put the shadow Confederate government of Kentucky of that state into power, threaten Union cities along the Ohio River, and recruit men to join the army. First to move is Kirby Smith, departing Knoxville on August 13, leading the Confederate Army of Kentucky, whose ideas provide the initiative for the offensive. General Braxton Bragg, commanding the Army of Mississippi, leaves Chattanooga on August 27 and moves on a roughly parallel track to the west.

Brigadier General Patrick Cleburne leads Smith’s advance with Colonel John S. Scott’s cavalry out in front. The Confederate cavalry, while moving north from Big Hill on the road to Richmond, Kentucky, on August 29, encounters Union troopers and begin skirmishing. After noon, Union artillery and infantry join the fray, forcing the Confederate cavalry to retreat to Big Hill.

At that time, Brigadier General Mahlon Dickerson Manson, who commands Union forces in the area, orders a brigade to march to Rogersville, toward the rebels. Fighting for the day stops after pursuing Union forces briefly skirmish with Cleburne’s men in the late afternoon. That night, Manson informs his superior, Bull Nelson, of his situation, and he orders another brigade to be ready to march in support, when required.

Kirby Smith orders Cleburne to attack in the morning and promises to hurry reinforcements. Cleburne starts early, marching north, passes through Kingston, disperses Union skirmishers, and approaches Manson’s battle line near Zion Church. As the day progresses, additional troops join both sides. Following an artillery duel, the battle begins, and after a concerted Confederate attack on the Union right, the Union troops give way. Retreating into Rogersville, they make another futile stand at their old bivouac.

By this time, Smith and Nelson arrive and take command of their respective armies. Nelson rallies some troops in the cemetery outside Richmond, but they are routed.

Nelson and some of his men escape, but the Confederates capture over 4,300 Union troops. Total casualties are 5,353 (206 killed, 844 wounded, and 4,303 captured or missing) on the Union side, 451 (78 killed, 372 wounded, and one missing) for the Confederates. The way north towards Lexington and Frankfort is open.

During the battle Cleburne is wounded in the face when a Minié ball pierces his left cheek, smashes several teeth, and exits through his mouth. He recovers in time to re-join Bragg and William Joseph Hardee and participate in the Battle of Perryville.

The Civil War Trust, a division of the American Battlefield Trust, and its partners have acquired and preserved 365 acres of the Richmond Battlefield. The Mt. Zion Christian Church, which served as a hospital during the battle and has cannonballs embedded in its brick walls, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Two discontinuous areas totaling 214 acres are listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Battle of Richmond Historic Areas in 1996.

(Pictured: Major General Patrick Ronayne Cleburne, courtesy of Library of Congress)